Homeboyz Rugby are set to form a team for the inaugural Kenya Rugby League Premier division slated for next year.
Homeboyz’s chief executive officer, Mike Rabar, said the response was overwhelming and 120 players have shown interest in the team.
“We have had very good response and feedback from several players and next week, we start sifting through the names before coming up with a competitive squad for the start of the competition next year,” noted Rabar.
Homeboyz will be one of the six franchise teams playing in the top tier and Rabar added that all the teams will be at par.
“Once we start the league, all teams will be of equal strength and no team will be stronger than the other as we seek to have a level playing field. We want to create a good spirit of competition amongst the teams,” added Rabar.
He said the logo for the league will be announced next week and added that there is goodwill from sponsors. “By the time the league starts, we will have signed a few deals. There has been very good response from corporates as this is new product we want to push to fans and there is excitement around it,” noted Rabar.
The six teams will form the bulk of the Kenya national team which will play in the Rugby League World Cup qualifiers in 2022.
According to technical director, Benjamin Ayimba, matches will be played midweek to create interests for fans. “We are going to do things differently. You do realise weekends can be very busy and therefore going forward, we want to play midweek and Friday night matches to create a buzz around the sport,” added Ayimba.
Elsewhere, former KCB winger Sebastian Shivoka is dead. He was pronounced dead on Tuesday night at Mukumu Hospital after falling sick earlier in the day.
'Seba' as he was popularly known in the rugby fraternity, was in the KCB squad that won the Kenya Cup between 2005-2007 alongside Anthony Ogot, Ken Isindu, Curtis Olago, Paul Murunga and Peter Mutai amongst others.
Shivoka started his rugby career at Kakamega High School and helped the school win the national title in 2004. He joined Homeboyz in 2010 before decamping to Kabras in 2013. He will be laid to rest tomorrow in Kakamega.
